Thank you all for this post. The loose transmission bearing housing bolts problem bit me. The front lower bolt has fallen out completely somewhere on the road and the rear is nearly falling out. There was only a drop of oil on the garage floor that made me check things out. I found the TSB that Dawg posted, and that was a help also.

I'm really hoping I can get a cut allen wrench in there to install the replacement bolt and get both of the lower ones tightened up. I really don't want to have to take the whole exhaust off just to tighten two bolts.

'fooz

 

This is a **** poor design. I took my exhaust off got some good grade hex head bolts and put some locktite on them and tightened them down haven't had any problem since but if I do I can get a wrench on them.

 

see post #3, we all have 1/4" screwdriver bits, don't we?


mike

 

Hi

Just had the exact same issue on my Road King. I was checking the bike over before going away on a trip on it and spotted the gearbox sump had a film of oil on it and after a bit of a poke around I found the rearmost lower bracket bolt had jumped ship and the other was hanging on by a thread and weeping.

As you guys have said, I also could not get a hex key on the forward loose bolt even cut down, however I managed to nip it up using the 1/4 screwdriver bit and spanner technique .

I couldn't get much torque on it and I couldn't find an imperial replacement bolt locally, ( UK is mainly metric ).With more time I would have done it myself but as I was going away I wanted it sorting properly. To their credit the local Harley dealer moved some work about and fitted me in at very short notice. They removed the exhaust and replaced/loctited and re torqued all the bolts. It cost an hours labour mind !

Apparently they have seen this a few times before. I will be checking them every service from now on.

Cheers

 

Had the same issue in my 09 Road King, the above worked for me, made it tight and it never loosened again.

 

After reading through this thread I thought I would go check mine. I used a 1/4 drive 3/16 ball end hex driver. No problem getting at the two lower bolts like this.

 

Update on mine: Since the front bolt had already completely fallen out and the rear bolt was spinning freely, I figured that I'd replace both lower bolts with grade 8 hex bolts, split lock washers and LocTite 242. Well, so far this change isn't going exactly according to plan. We eventually got the rear bolt in and I was able to get it tight (but can't get a torque wrench on it, obviously) with a stubby combination wrench. I just can't get at the front bolt though. So it's looking like I've got two choices at this point:

a. Put the remaining allen bolt back in there and do the 1/4" bit and wrench dance to get it tight enough by feel. I did 24 ft-lbs on the other bolts and that's pretty dang tight to try to get with a skinny 1/4" wrench and bit.

b. Pull the exhaust system so I can put in the other grade 8 bolt, and get it torqued down with a socket and torque wrench.

I figured I had already gotten one grade 8 hex bolt in, so I'd try putting in the second one. Thus far I've removed the heat shields and the muffler on the right side, but now it's time to take a breather, get a shower and step away from it. I was getting hot and frustrated over what all it's taking to get at two dang bolts, and I was losing daylight. Removing the exhaust system looks like it'll be pretty time consuming based on what I'm seeing in the service manual. I was running out of daylight...and patience. Probably best to roll it back in the garage rather than do something wrong.

I'm going to sleep on it and may just try getting it back together with the allen bolt. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice here, and I was really looking forward to getting on the thing. I hate seeing my bike in pieces in the garage.

How hard is the exhaust to remove? Can I remove just the section from the header to the cross-over, so I'd be able to torque down the front bolt to spec?

Is it worth all this effort to put in a pair of grade 8 bolts, or should I forget about it, and just put a lock washer on the allen bolt and try getting it back in with the bit-and-wrench setup?

'fooz

 

Got it in! Looks a little goofy with the grade 8 bolt on the rear lower bolt, and the allen head bolt on the front, but it's in and secured. At least for the moment. I used LocTite blue 242 on both bolts. It was really very difficult to get the front bolt started and get it in far enough to get the bit in there, so I used needle nose pliers to grab the bolt head and twist it in. Once I got it far enough to get the bit in it, using a 1/4" combination wrench on the open end allowed me to get it tight. Then put all the heat shields back on.

Thanks to everybody for their help and advice on this repair. In the end it was a cheap repair -- only the cost of the replacement bolt and lock washer -- but it was one of the most frustrating I've run into. If I had to do it over again, I think I would have ordered the intake manifold wrench to slip in there, but I didn't want to take a chance on ordering this wrench and then find out it wouldn't fit in the clearance that was there.

'fooz